About

Kelly was told by her parents that “DOG” was her first word as an infant even though they did not own a dog. She grew up watching heroic dog movies such as Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Old Yeller, and the Dobermann Gang!! And don’t forget the Bionic Dog, Maximillian! She remembers driving by a dog training kennel on a road trip with her family and loudly stating, “I want to be a dog trainer!” Well her parents laughed and said she didn’t have enough patience to be a dog trainer. Kelly wasn’t even old enough to know what the word meant, so she asked. She doesn’t recall understanding the explanation and felt she was missing this mysterious thing that prevented her from being a dog trainer. Well she was only discouraged for a short while and eventually got her first dog (and quickly learned patience!). She immediately asked if she could take “Gatsby” to dog shows and her dad brought her to a dog obedience club. She was under the minimum age of what the club accepted but they allowed Kelly in anyway. Her and Gatsby graduated first in their class and the two went on to win a whole book shelf of trophies and even competed in championship events earning the AKC obedience titles of Companion Dog, Companion Dog Excellence, and Utility Dog all while Kelly was a Junior Handler.

Kelly now has over 35 years of experience training dogs of her own and dogs for others, earning over 60 titles on several different breeds and has even started a small breeding program of West German working line German Shepherds. She has competed at a total of 7 National Championship events in the working dog sport of Schutzhund (IPO) which is a three phase sport that involves tracking, obedience, and protection. Training dogs in the protection sports has given Kelly a unique insight into the different sources of aggression and how to control aggression.

Kelly absolutely loves working with dogs and has a gift of connecting with all dogs (and even other animals). She is very passionate and intuitive in her approach and cares very much about the emotional experience a dog has while learning. She appreciates the harmonious and loyal companionship she has with her own dogs and wants everyone to experience this same connection.

Kelly is an excellent obedience trainer, problem solver of dog behaviors and behavior modification, and is uniquely talented at working with aggression, dominance, and anxiety.